Effective workplace communication is the cornerstone of a thriving organisation, yet many small businesses struggle to maintain clear, consistent messaging. Poor communication — whether it's a lack of transparency, team silos or misaligned priorities — can lead to low employee engagement, reduced productivity, and even higher turnover rates. The solution? A robust internal corporate communication strategy powered by the right tools.
The 5app platform (or Hub as we call it) is a powerful ally for small businesses aiming to improve their internal communications. It is trusted by organisations like Hemsley Fraser, a 300-employee company that uses the Hub every day to deliver authentic, engaging communications at scale.
“It’s been the linchpin of how we’ve transformed our business, whilst all of our workforce is working remotely.” - Lynsey Whitmarsh, Hemsley Fraser CEO
Under the leadership of CEO Lynsey Whitmarsh, Hemsley Fraser uses the Hub to cultivate a culture of connection and inclusivity, from video-first messages to sharing employee successes. Let's explore the challenges of poor communication and how the 5app Hub addresses them.
This blog explores where poor communication stems from and how 5app helps small businesses connect their teams and people.
1. Information overload and silos: Employees often feel overwhelmed by irrelevant updates while struggling to access the information they truly need. Silos form when communication channels fail to bridge departments or teams effectively.
2. Lack of engagement with your people: Employees can feel disconnected from company goals and their purpose within the organisation. Without meaningful and transparent communication, engagement plummets, affecting morale and productivity.
3. Inefficient and outdated communication methods & processes: Traditional methods of communication, like lengthy emails, dense PDFs, and death by PowerPoint, create unnecessary administrative burdens for managers and HR teams.
4. Missing opportunities for connection: Praising achievements and recognising milestones helps create a feeling of inclusion, belonging and purpose, and reminds employees why they are here.
The 5app Hub is designed to streamline and enhance workplace communication and bring your people closer together – here's how:
Over the years, video has become increasingly prevalent within corporate comms, helping leaders deliver authentic, transparent and engaging content to their people. In the Hub, videos can be uploaded via a drag-and-drop tool in seconds and broadcast to a specific audience or the entire organisation.
And, as the Hub works on any mobile device, business leaders like Lynsey can seamlessly upload spur-of-the-moment updates while on the go.
The Hub features a dedicated area for managers called My Teams, where leaders can deliver localised messages to their team, function or department in a private space. The result is that the employee gets both relevant comms from their local department and global content from the central office or the CEO – all in one simple feed, without also being bombarded with comms intended for other teams.
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At the heart of the Hub lies Playlists, allowing content curators and admins to structure all these authentic messages into a single feed. This allows employees to stay connected to the latest news from both the company and their local area while cutting through the noise of the wider business.
And with our robust Search functionality, employees can quickly get to the content they need in just a couple of clicks, with our new Vee AI tutor agent further streamlining the content-finding process (more on that later…).
The Hub features powerful automation tools through Nudges and Shares that help alleviate the admin burden by automating sequences of events.
Nudges allow admins to automate set rules on delivering content to an audience based on the goal of opening or viewing the content. They can also establish a set of reminders to ensure employees don't forget to read or watch the latest company news.
Auto-sharing allows admins to decide if content should be automatically shared to a new audience. For example - for new starters, admins can set a rule to share content from the CEO on day 1 automatically.
The Hub provides managers and admins with rich analytics into how, when, and what communications resonate with employees. By understanding engagement trends, a small business can refine its internal corporate communication strategy and better meet employee needs.
Authentic communication is more than just broadcast messages – it’s a two-way street, which plays a vital role in shaping company culture and supporting business goals, such as:
Employee onboarding: Clear and engaging employee onboarding communications help new hires understand company values, expectations and resources from day one.
Training initiatives: The Hub allows leaders to explain the ‘why’ behind their training programmes, boosting participation and aligning employees with organisational goals.
Culture of belonging: The Hub fosters a sense of community and inclusivity by connecting employees through social events, DEI initiatives and recognition of achievements, through both the company culture and, more specifically, the learning culture.
At Hemsley Fraser, for example, the Hub connects employees around important social and DEI events, celebrates individual and team successes, and ensures everyone feels part of a cohesive organisational mission. This commitment to authentic communication strengthens trust and engagement across the workforce.
The 5app Hub goes beyond traditional communication tools by incorporating AI-powered curation and discovery features. These tools allow admins to:
1. Curate content faster: AI suggests relevant resources, saving time and ensuring employees receive the most relevant information, right on cue.
2. Answer questions instantly: With 5app’s new AI tutor agent, Vee, employees can quickly find answers to their queries, reducing dependency on managers and improving productivity.
By leveraging AI, small businesses can create a more responsive and adaptive communication ecosystem that meets the needs of a dynamic workforce. We’ve developed our new AI tutor agent, Vee, to help employees get access to knowledge faster than ever before.
The Hub is uniquely positioned to support small businesses in achieving their communication goals. Its intuitive design, powerful features and commitment to authentic engagement make it a game-changer for organisations looking to:
The success of companies like Hemsley Fraser proves that the Hub is not just a communication tool – it's a platform for building stronger, more connected teams.
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